Part II . . . Notes, References, and Shoutouts (Chapters 10-14)
(4MiM Supplement #3)
Chapter 10. Arrival of the Diplomats
Neither one was a man to be trifled with: Matulis of sharp intelligence and features who had a deep and catholic understanding of the physical properties of things and how they worked; Chipman a man of both action and thought, a sturdy bear of a man, with the solid build of the baseball catchers of yore.
In praise of catchers: the Cincinnati Reds’ Johnny Bench and Jason Varitek of the Boston Red Sox come to mind.
Chapter 11. What Was Left Behind
Chipman’s command ability was put to the test again a few days later, when the Eridanus was hit and buffeted about by a storm of proton energies from X-class coronal flares.
“Solar flares are giant explosions on the sun [ed. insert: any sun] that send energy, light and high speed particles into space. These flares are often associated with solar magnetic storms known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs). The biggest flares are known as "X-class flares" based on a classification system that divides solar flares according to their strength. The smallest ones are A-class (near background levels), followed by B, C, M and X. Similar to the Richter scale for earthquakes, each letter represents a 10-fold increase in energy output. So an X is ten times an M and 100 times a C. Within each letter class there is a finer scale from 1 to 9.- Karen C. Fox, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center,
“No, I’m fine. I was a little scared, to tell you the truth. I almost hid under my desk like they did in the old days.”
During the Cuban Missile Crisis (October 16-29, 1962) American school children practiced preparing for nuclear conflict with the Soviet Union by participating in drills that mainly involved crouching down and hiding under their desks.
My sister Lillian gave it to me before I left because she knows mudan—they used to call them peonies—are my favorite flowers.””
“Mudan” is Mandarin for peony
Chapter 12. These Are Serious Times, Dangerous Times
After the hubbub of solar storms and interplanetary intrigue, the Eridanus headed into a fortnight of quiet travel through the humdrum of relatively empty space.
My mental soundtrack for this chapter is—appropriately—“Humdrum” from Peter Gabriel’s first self-titled album (aka PG1 or PG Car).
When off duty, the library crew gathered in McKaye’s quarters for pinochle . . .
They usually played four-handed pinochle.
“You’re bleeding. Here, let me hold that thing.”
“It’s nothing.” But she actually let him take the case.
Anyone who knew Joanni would understand the strength of her feelings for Chipman at this point. She never let anyone hold or carry her clesig.
. . . —now promoted to Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary for this mission— . . .
Ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary can be understood as the head of a diplomatic mission abroad . . . at the highest level and with treaty-signing powers. (US Department of State/Collins Dictionary)
Joanni, however, was too lost in her fin de l'été mood to notice.
fin de l'été — [French] the end of summer, late summer; the end of something
Chapter 14. People With Dignity
The diplomats disembarking from the shuttlecraft Europa V forced Joanni out of her reverie . . . the scientists and academics assigned to Operation Tarrash, were exiting the Europa VI, the second shuttlecraft to arrive . . .
ISEA’s fleet of auxiliary craft, such as shuttlecraft, were named after planets or their moons. The six shuttlecraft aboard the Eridanus were named after one of Jupiter’s largest moons, Europa.
Brennan Vela was last, and quickly shook Joanni’s hand as the receiving line was breaking up. Joanni immediately disapproved of her . . .
First impressions can be true or false, so . . .
Indeed, better that everyone on the hangar platform at this point had no idea of the thoughts in anyone else’s mind.
Four Months in May’s regular chapter format will return Friday, August 4. Thanks for reading!
Image sources. Top image: “The End of the Day, Adirondacks” by Winslow Homer, 1890. The Art Institute of Chicago, Public Domain.
Johnny and Jason: tradingcarddb.com, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons/PhreddieH3 on en.wikipedia, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons).